The fifth executive of evil, Levitan.

Commonly known as “Levi-tang.”

As an executive of an evil organization, she was currently enjoying a glorious reintegration into society. And as a police officer, no less.

“Reintegration…?”

“Yup! The boss really takes care of that sort of thing.”

Aile mentioned that one doesn’t need to remain in an evil organization. If they wanted, they could freely re-enter society at any time. Just keep your name in the organization for appearances. If you can make use of them, do it to your heart’s content.

—that’s how Regalia operated, apparently. Instead of keeping talented individuals trapped in a small cage, it was more romantic to set them free into the world, hoping that the bird that flew away would remember its caretaker and come back someday.

Such tender romanticism seemed oddly fitting for the boss.

‘So what about me?’

I briefly recalled what would happen if I told the boss I wanted to leave the organization. If Aile’s words were true, there wouldn’t be any way they’d cancel my fake ID just because I wanted to leave.

If it were the boss, she’d probably do her best to support me. So, where would I go? A research position where I could utilize my  scientific knowledge.

Yeah, Evil Corp was perfect for that.

I wasn’t joking; Evil Corp was outstanding both subjectively and objectively, a global giant. Among options available to non-hero and non-villain types, it was one of the best choices.

‘So in the end, I’d still be under the boss… and I’d even have some unnecessary higher-ups to deal with.’

If the boss recommended me, I could easily land a position as the lab director, but that director wouldn’t be the sole authority—there would be boards and department heads to interfere.

Honestly, having to deal with unnecessary superiors and office politics seemed worse than just being an evil org scientist. At least right now, there was only one person to serve: the boss.

“Haha! What’s with that reaction? The boss really didn’t tell you anything, did she?”

“Yeah, well, I’m a newbie, so…”

“Why? Does it bother you? Should I quit?”

“Not quite, but…”

“Too bad!”

Watching Levi-tang break into laughter, I let out a nervous chuckle. Her energy was unnecessarily high—distracting, really. For an introvert like me, it was rather overwhelming.

As expected, Aile was also feeling quite uncomfortable. She’d been fidgeting for a while now, looking all over the place.

I began to understand why she had dragged me out shopping. Being with someone like this would drain her energy, turning the delicate introvert Aile into a dried squid in no time.

“So? Why on earth a police officer?”

“Hmm? I wanted to help someone!”

“A hero would… Oh wait, that was a slip.”

“Haha! Right! That was a slip!”

I nearly brought up how being a hero would be more fitting for saving people when I remembered her job. Right, she was a villain before being a police officer—City E’s biggest villain at that. A member of the evil organization.

For a villain to want to become a hero just to save people? That felt completely scripted, like a staged play. While the evil organization warned about impending harm, Regalia seemed to care surprisingly much about public opinion.

“But can a villain even be a police officer? I thought criminals couldn’t be public servants.”

“The boss sorted it out!”

“Oh right, of course.”

Once I heard her words, I realized exactly where we were—City E. A city ruled by Evil Corp. This was a region governed by a massive conglomerate with unchallenged power; even the mayor couldn’t just mess with them, let alone a president elected by the entire nation.

Stuffing one of their own subordinates into the police force couldn’t be difficult at all. Especially not for a capable, eager newbie.

“By the way, you brought up Eight, right? Is that true?”

“…What do you mean?”

“About how you fixed Galm’s body!”

That caught me off guard; it was the first I’d heard of such a thing. I tilted my head and looked at her. Upon seeing my reaction, Levi-tang seemed to realize her mistake, quickly backpedaling.

Aile stood next to her, her face suddenly filled with anticipation as she glanced over.

[─C-1 situation reported at the warehouse. Requesting support.]

At that moment, a call for backup came through my radio. After hearing it, Levi-tang immediately shot up and waved her hands.

“Ah! I gotta go! Nice meeting you, Eight and Aile! See you again!”

“What’s going on?”

“B-secrets! I don’t want to spoil it, but it involves you too, Eight.”

Levi-tang leaned in as if about to share some huge secret.

“─There’s been a thief targeting the robots it made.”

“Is that so?”

“Yup! You’re not surprised?”

“Well, that’s just typical for humanity.”

“…Heh, humanity. Yup! Levi-tang likes that!”

I had no clue what it was she liked, but with a grin, Levi-tang dashed off. Watching her sprint away made me let out a deep sigh.

“Phew… I’m getting drained.”

“Y-yeah….”

“Ah, Aile, I’m sorry. I invited you to the collab café….”

“It’s fine! We can still go now….”

“Shall we?”

So, left alone with Aile, I began to feel my rapidly depleted energy slowly returning as we headed to the Magical Girl collaboration café.

At the café, they were holding a lottery event. I ended up winning first prize (a Magical Girl figure), and Aile shot me an envious glance.

Holding the figure in my hands, I thought to myself.

What a stroke of luck.

*

Since the production of the Nemu Buster had been halted, its value began to soar sky-high. The price had started to bubble up like crazy for some reason. Would you believe it if I said something that was originally sold for $9.99 was now hard to find for over a thousand dollars?

Naturally, seeing prices rise like that, people couldn’t help but wonder if it might go even higher. Would it keep going up?

In this situation, those who had previously purchased Nemu Busters were in a favorable position. With production stopped, there wouldn’t be any similar toys coming out (at least, everyone knew nothing comparable would come out at this price).

All they had to do was sit back and breathe, and they’d win! Faced with a situation like this, people who wanted a Nemu Buster sought alternatives rather than purchasing.

If they couldn’t get it, they’d just steal it.

“Mommy! My toy!”

“Hey? I swear I left it right here….”

“Th-theft!”

They started raiding houses, popular influencers’ offices, mining rigs, and warehouses of big toy shops—all possible places where Nemu Busters could be stashed.

The police, realizing what was happening, belatedly urged people to report any Nemu Buster holdings and request protection, but this turned out to be a big blunder.

Somehow, it seemed like there were informants within the police department itself—using that information, they began to loot the place blind. In this way, over ten thousand Nemu Busters gathered in one location.

“Heh, it’s ridiculous how amazing the performance is.”

Dr. Kuroi, a genius scientist, smiled while gazing at the thousands of Nemu Busters lined up before him. Despite how many units were in front of him, it would still be a daunting task to replicate or understand the circuit.

His pride as a genius mad scientist would shatter like glass if he let something like this get to him, but if the title of genius scientist were to crumble over such trivial matters, it would be a lot more embarrassing.

“But if this genius gets his hands on it, then it’s all useless.”

Dr. Kuroi began to gather the circuitry from the disassembled Nemu Busters. With those circuits, he started to build something new. Even if people couldn’t grasp the configuration of the toy circuits made by Eight, that didn’t mean they couldn’t make use of them.

YouTubers likely ran games on those circuits, and while some offered graphic calculations for computers—there were those who felt potential in those tiny circuits.

And Dr. Kuroi was no exception.

“─It’s finished.”

A super artificial intelligence built by interconnecting hundreds of circuits in parallel. Dr. Kuroi activated the power. The circuit, running on barely any energy, began to move according to the settings he had preset.

The mechanical doll opened its eyes.

[─Greetings, Master.]

“Oh, oh wow! Yes! Success!”

Dr. Kuroi beamed as he gazed at the android standing before him. An artificially intelligent android. A feat of super  science that no one had yet to achieve.

He had become the first in the world to reach such heights.

This was an achievement that would etch itself into human history. Realizing that his name would be remembered for generations to come, Dr. Kuroi issued a command to the android.

“─Now, show me your terror.”

[Yes, Master.]

Moments later.

The android, now dressed in an adorable maid outfit, acted sweetly right in front of Dr. Kuroi.

[Welcome, Master! What would you like to order? A bath? A meal? Or maybe… me?]

“Muahahaha! I’ll take you! Yes, you!”

[Ahhh! Master, you’re so bold!]

On that day, for the very first time, a strong artificial intelligence was born into this world.

It was summer.